Track Listing

1. Old Laughing Lady
2. Mr Soul
3. World On A String
4. Pocahontas
5. Stringman
6. Like A Hurricane
7. Needle And The Damage Done
8. Helpless
9. Harvest Moon
10. Transformer Man
11. Unknown Legend
12. Look Out For My Love
13. Long May You Run
14. From Hank To Hendrix

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4552 in Music
• Released on: 1993-06-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
For all its shortcomings, MTV's UNPLUGGED series, presenting artists in an ostensibly stripped-down, acoustic setting, has provided the world with a few recorded gems, including this album. Young's turn on the show amounts to a live best-of, focusing (out of necessity) on the ballad end of his repertoire. Supported by longtime cohorts like Nils Lofgren, TimDrummond and Ben Keith, Young reaches back to his earliest solo recordings ("The Old Laughing Lady") as well as well asoffering up some new tunes ("From Hank To Hendrix", "Unknown Legend").
Amid the electrical storm of Crazy Horse, it's often easy to forget how brightly Young shines as an acoustic balladeer, his high, lonesome whine taking on a plaintive quality, as on this recording. From the surrealism of "Pocahontas" to the existential angst of "World On A String", Young works his idiosyncratic magic. As a bonus, UNPLUGGED offers some interesting rearrangements of old tunes, particularly "Like A Hurricane", which is presented as a pump organ-driven slow burner.

Customer Reviews

Like a Hurricane!
there are few people who doubt that Neil Young is a genius at both writing and playing music, if this is so then Neil Young's MTV Unplugged is without doubt one of the finest works of art to emerge from the last century. His delecate, melodic and mature approach to such songs as 'Like a Hurricane', 'Helpless' and 'Mr. Soul'and his simplistic and appropriate use of instruments leaves any listener, whether a fan of Young or not, with an emotion undiscribable and which forces them to play it over again and again. The very prominant lead vocals of Young and angelic backing vocals adds to a very light and almost untouchable atmosphere. The songs are re-written in the true unplugged style and hearing songs such as 'Like a Hurricane'and 'Mr. Soul' somewhat lacking in burning guitar solos only makes it more enjoyable to listen to. Young really comes into his own in his performance of 'Pocahontas'which still shows he is as good solo performer as he is band member in Crazy Horse. He still retains his excellent vocals and distinctive harmonica playing that make him enjoyable to listen to.

Like so few albums Neil Young Unplugged is one you can just simply play again and again, it really is like a hurricane.

Money well spent...
While there are more than enough individual tracks dotted around his huge number of recordings to justify Neil Young’s major reputation there are only a few albums that, on their own, hold together as satisfyingly complete “works”. And… in the (self imposed) absence of any sensible retrospectives since 1977’s “Decade” (definitely the best place to start for any “casual buyer”) those not “in the know” could be in for some seriously expensive mistakes. So, what’s been worth the money since then? Well…for anyone looking for the mellower side of this brilliantly mercurial but annoyingly erratic artist here’s a few suggestions: “Comes a Time” (1978), “Freedom” (1989), “Harvest Moon” (1992) and “Unplugged” (1995).

“Unplugged”, a review of some of his best tracks from the previous 25 years, takes this often tired format to its highest levels. Opening with “The Old Laughing Lady” (a wonderfully laid-back acoustic re-working of a stand-out track from his first solo album) and followed by a beautifully low-key version of his Buffalo Springfield hit “Mr Soul”, the album just flows from start to finish. And… on the way through you get arguably better versions than the original outings of “Pocahontas”, “Harvest Moon”, “Look Out for My Love” & “Transformer Man”. Played and sung with the sincerity of an artist who wants to deliver a cohesive retrospective of his career, and impressive in that it avoids revisiting many of his better known, more obvious choices, this is mellow music at its very best and an album that leaves you feeling… happy. Money well spent!

Unplugged
There are so many great tracks on this album that this could easily be a best of! The unplugged format is perfect for Neil Young and really shows his songs off in their best light and his voice goes just perfectly with acoustic guitar. This is where I began my love of Neil Young and I really believe it is a great starting point in his music and style before delving deeper into his other albums. A great album.